Stay
by NotoriouslyN
Summary: The Glades was only the beginning. For them. For the city.


**_All rights to the television series creators, The CW and DC Comics._**

None of them had entertained the possibility of the Undertaking achieving their goal of leveling the Glades. But it had, and Felicity had debated the merits of being a part of the team when she had been unable to shut the other device down.

She had failed this city. And if she was honest with herself, the horrible monstrosity that was the brainchild of Malcolm Merlyn was only the beginning of what could be her future failures. Diggle had reasoned that she wasn't to be blamed for having zero way of knowing that Malcolm had two of the seismic devices installed. She had, he added, after all managed to deactivate one of those, without which would have resulted in destruction of a greater magnitude. Oliver, on the other hand, had been consumed by Tommy's death that she didn't want to bother him with her personal concerns any more than she should.

Felicity decided to stay.

* * *

Two months of her glasses and blonde ponytail, her panda flats and her cardigans, her bright colored lips and her painted nails were what got Oliver through Tommy's death. She had kept any talking between them to a minimum during all the nights she stayed with him in the foundry. He'd push her away at first, but had given up doing so when she seemed perfectly content to sit in silence with him. She only left in the morning to return to her apartment and get to her job at Queen Consolidated. In the evening, she'd come over with takeaway of her choice for dinner.

It was an arrangement that finally got him to open up to her. Up until that moment, he never really appreciated how it is to be around someone who truly expects nothing from him. And like no one else could, she made his pain go away, his worries subside. Ultimately she was the reason he got back to taking up the bow and quiver.

* * *

Tonight would be the Hood's first appearance after a two month absence, and he is determined to make the most out of it. None of them believed that the threat to Starling City was over. Far from it, his mother's confession and Merlyn's death presented the opportunity for someone new and possibly more monstrous to fill the void left by the deceased. Of that much, he is certain.

The lack of Felicity's incessant typing and her comfortable recline on one of the smaller computer chairs makes him wonder what keeps her here on a Friday night. At a closer look, he sees that her attention has been taken up by a movie of some sort on one of the computer screens while she has the other two running the weekly backup to a secure server.

Between what little of the house music that made its way down here and the tense gripping of a spoon stuck into a tub of ice cream, he could tell that she hasn't heard his approach. He crosses the room silently, until he is close enough to be heard.

"It looks gripping."

Felicity screams, sending the ice cream flying. She clutches a hand to her chest with a look of pure terror etched on her face. Her attempts to swivel the chair around becomes a stumble out of the seat and she falls to the floor, bottom- first.

"Felicity?" He asks, the concern audible in his voice. She never looked so frightened as she did now.

She stares up at him, blinking rapidly. "Oliver?"

He extends his hand to her, and with Felicity grasping his forearms, he pulls her to her feet.

"Sorry, didn't mean to take you by surprise." His ears are still ringing from the screaming. "I wasn't expecting that scream though."

"You scared me half to death." She draws in more air, trying to calm her accelerated heartbeat.

Gravity brings the ice cream carton back down, and before she could warn him about it, Oliver's hand shoots out to grab it. As fast as his reflexes are, he is too slow for some of the melted ice cream that plops onto Felicity's head.

He watches as the chill, immediate and sharp against her scalp startles her. "You make me get all wet and sticky."

Her back is to him, so she doesn't see the way her words strike him, or the look he gives her. She scrambles to clarify her meaning, groaning as she apparently realizes what she's said. "That wasn't what I meant, and," She starts. "You know I don't mean it any other way. I meant the ice- cream's wet and sticky. and that just happens to mean something else too. Not that I'd ever think about it in any other context, but I'm sure that's what all the women will say, to... deny... Me I'm telling the truth..." Finally she looks up at him with flushed cheeks and a noticeable consternation.

He should be used to her verbal gaffes by now, but every time she does so, he can feel the smile tugging at his lips. She mumbles what he thinks is "I really need that brain- to- mouth filter," as she closes her eyes against her embarrassment. They are still standing, a little too close for his comfort and he tells himself that it shouldn't bother him to have someone as beautiful as Felicity in close proximity.

Another part of him tells him that it applied to the pre- island Oliver Queen. Not the Oliver Queen that has brought all the beautiful women he's met in the last year to their bed.

He releases her and steps away. "What are you doing down here, Felicity?"

Her hand goes up to her hair, feeling for the ice cream that she wants to clean off. It prompts him to take hold of her wrist, and with his other arm on her shoulder guides her to the sink. "Let's get your hair cleaned up."

He has the tap running, pausing slightly for her assent and reaches up for a portion of the flaxen curls. It's only then that he realizes she had worn her hair down and finds himself having to resist the urge to take a whiff of the strands to know what shampoo she used that morning.

"Promise to not laugh at me and I'll tell you."

"For someone who plays dress- up as Robin Hood every night, I'm not exactly in the position to laugh at your activities." He exhales. "I promise."

"I'm watching A Nightmare on Elm Street."

He recalls movie nights at the mansion with Tommy, Laurel and Thea from a long time ago where they had watched a few movies of the same name. "I never take you as the horror film- watching type."

"You've seen it? Do you like it?" At that, she purses her lips, seemingly deep in thought before she corrects herself. "No, you shouldn't like the 2010 remake. And God help me if you say you do."

From the excitement that lights up her face, it is obviously something that she's passionate about. "Another one? Must be a good thing that I was stranded at the island then."

"You don't say." She shakes her head.

"So it's a Friday night and you're sitting alone down here scaring yourself out of your wits with horror movies?" He dries her hair with a small towel.

Felicity glances down at her shoes, clearly not eager to answer his question. "In my defense, I invited Diggle to join me tonight. But he's got a date with Carly, so I'm watching this by my lonesome."

It doesn't sit well with him to know that Felicity feels more comfortable in her friendship with Diggle than she does with him. He had always considered her a friend, when she'd begun to prove to be more than just an indispensable member in his team. Now he could see that it isn't enough. Not in her eyes. She'd planned to not even extend the invitation to him.

The knowledge bothers him more than he liked to admit.

"And what happened to watching it in the comfort of your own home?"

"That," She pauses pointedly. "is because there's a nightclub upstairs. Makes me feel a little less spooked, if you get what I mean."

Oliver has to smile at that because there is no one else quite like her. For all her fearlessness to run headlong into dangerous situations, there is the sweetness and innocence that keeps Diggle and him morally grounded.

"Mind if I join you? I've got a bottle or two of good wines stashed somewhere." He dangles that bit in front of her, knowing she'd take him up on the offer to make up for the Lafite Rothschild 1982 that he promised.

* * *

**A/N: Be rest assured, I'm a serious Olicity shipper. Also, I've never gone anywhere near the Green Arrow universe beyond the Justice League and the television **


End file.
